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Finding Susan Cover Reveal and Interview

Welcome to my blog where I'm revealing the cover for my second F/F romance, Finding Susan! When the idea for Finding Susan was brought to me, I had to take some time to figure out how to write it in fictional form, when it's actually a true story! If you're looking for a sweet lesbian love story where life isn't easy, but their love is meant to be, you're going to love Finding Susan! The book releases October 26, 2017 and you will find the blurb and pre-order link below along with an interview with Renee S. the real life 'Renay' about how her story came to be a novel.

A real life story of deceit, acceptance, and the quest to find true love, while staying true to yourself.

The last thing Renay Skovgaard expected was to find herself a victim of a catfisher. No stranger to online dating, Renay didn’t see it coming until it was too late, and she’d already lost her heart. Months after the catfisher had faded away, and time had healed the wound, Renay was finally able to grasp the truth behind the encounter. She was in love with the woman in the image she carried around in her back pocket, not the person behind the screen. Her hazel eyes were the same pair she’d seen since childhood, and she was ready to find the woman she knew only as, Susan Walters.

The last thing Olga Weber expected her first night at Oktoberfest was to come-to-face with the woman she couldn’t live without. Her kindness, humor, and easy going way of making her feel safe drew her to the woman like a moth to a flame. Olga knew the game she played was dangerous, because a woman like Renay could destroy the make-believe life she’s worked for years to build. After one chance meeting she could feel the walls of her closet crumbling around her, and she knew her life was about to change…forever.

Olga and Renay find themselves falling in love; one woman comfortable with her sexuality, the other uncomfortable in her own skin. A bottle of wine and a sweet, languid kiss told Olga the time had come to decide if Renay was worth fighting for, and if true love could conquer all.

Hi Renee! I'm so glad you stopped by the blog today to share with my readers more about how Finding Susan came to be a full length novel. Why don't you tell my readers a little bit about yourself.

Hi Katie, I’m a seasoned marketing professional and publicist with broad experience and a solid foundation in sales and publicity for many business ventures, and organizations. As the manager and founder of ReSource Marketing, I’ve brought together an accomplished and devoted team of

professionals who are dedicated to producing powerful, creative, momentous, inspirational and engaging marketing and media representation.

I also have a strong dedication to philanthropic causes which showcase the human spirit and inspires change. I’ve spent countless hours bringing education, awareness and support for many cause related endeavors and campaigns with a particular emphasis in animal rescue, work with young people, and the environment. I’ve given hundreds of hours as a volunteer for various Non Profits including Easter Seals where I designed and implemented fundraising campaigns, to work done recruiting volunteers for The Gleaning Network. I’ve also been a mentor and coach for several programs designed to keep young people in school to get an education.

My current projects include working with Mirror Dog Productions on the feature film Urban Myths, and the Web Series: True Passages which is filming to bring awareness to Foster Care. I am also overseeing the pre-development of the feature film Earth Sentinels: The Storm Creators and hope to bring most of this film production to Southern Oregon. For fun, I like to garden year round and help seniors and families in the neighborhood with organic food. I raise chickens and quail, and I’m working on many self-sustaining projects around my property. I love exploring in the Rogue Valley and am a big history buff. I’m also a writer and cartoonist, and love playing the djembe drum.

Tell us Renee, how do you identify with the LGBTQ community? I hate labels, however feel I am pansexual now that I know this term, more than I would walk around saying I am a lesbian. I relate to people on a soul level, but definitely am attracted to women mostly.

Like Renay in the book, you met a woman named 'Susan Walters'. Tell us how you met her.

I saw Susan Walters on Plenty of Fish, which is an online dating site, and I messaged her. Funny thing is, she was the only one I’d seen on there that I messaged out of the thousands I’d scrolled through. It wasn’t like she messaged me. So obviously, there was a lesson to be learned!

When did you first begin to suspect this person wasn’t who they said they were? Did you discover it or did someone else think something wasn’t right?

I wasn’t sure, but thought I would just go for it. My friend Dawn thought she was for real, but my friend Rebecca thought a scammer right away. I started feeling something wasn’t right after a few days, but thought I would play it up and see what happened. I went ahead and played it as if it were real, and opened myself up to that person.

How did you end things with “Susan Walters”? Was there any negative backlash on you other than emotional? I.E. were you punished in any way for unknowingly being involved with this person?

In just two short weeks, I was asked for money, and I tried to play that out too. Once I called them on the whole thing, they blocked me on Facebook and Plenty of Fish, then Plenty of Fish suspended me from sending or receiving messages for 60 days.

Clearly brokenhearted by the encounter, how did you get from where you were angry about it to the place where you could tell others about it?

I wouldn’t say was brokenhearted per se, but I have spent my whole life trying to find my person, and had hope she was the one, as was really drawn to the picture of this person. It was disappointing for sure, and kind of depressing as I’ve spent my whole life looking for my person.

I talked about it with my friends all the way through things, and really processed what I felt as it was a roller coaster ride for sure. I came out the other end though being grateful that I could open my heart to someone.

What drove you to tell me about what happened with “Susan”? I let you know about this, as felt you could take what happened and write an amazing story that could help other people who had this happen, or to help them avoid it, however you want to look at it. I feel you have such a keen insight on love and hope, and knew you could write a story that I couldn’t. I’m always amazed at how you can weave a story, and felt you were the one to write this.

After you read Finding Susan did you feel like the story was told the way you thought it would be? I.E. Did the story hit on the emotions you went through, but more than that, did it accurately and properly warn people about the dangers of these online vultures?

I loved how you wove the story with so much imagination and thoughtfulness, and added other important elements that could help others. Really thrilled at how the story rolls, and it’s fun too, as well as pragmatic in laying out what I hope and believe are lessons for others to learn, and most especially to never give up hope.

Finally, now that it has been months since things went down with “Susan”, are you back to searching for your person?

I’ve spent my whole life trying to find “Susan” or the person I believe that I came to earth for. I never could give up looking for her as knew she must be looking for me too.

Ironically, while I was suspended from Plenty of Fish, a warm and lovely woman tried to message me, and she tried a couple times. After the book was written in the first draft, this woman messaged me again when she saw me become available again on Plenty of Fish, and well….. the rest will be history!! It’s almost like the book manifested my dream to come true, as I really believe I’ve found my soul mate now, and have never ever been so connected to another person or so fricking happy!

That's awesome, Renee! I'm so happy to hear that you've found your way through the maze of online dating to discover the person you've been searching for :) Thanks for stopping by today and I hope everyone enjoys reading Finding Susan and getting to know Renay and Olga!

Katie Mettner writes inspirational and romantic suspense from a little house in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. After suffering an especially bad spill on the bunny hill in 1989, Katie became an amputee in 2011, giving her the time to pen her first novel, Sugar's Dance. With the release of Sugar's story, Katie discovered the unfilled need for disabled heroes and heroines. As the author of over two dozen romance novels, her stories are about empowering people with special circumstances to find the one person who will love them because of their abilities, not their inabilities.

Katie lives with her soulmate, whom she met online at Thanksgiving and married in April. Almost seventeen years later her love story is a true case of instalove. She and her husband share their lives with their three children, and one very special leopard gecko. When not busy being a band mom, Katie has a slight addiction to Twitter and blogging, with a lessening aversion to Pinterest now that she quit trying to make the things she pinned.